Quality of olefin polymer lubricants



Patented Feb. 8, 1951 QUALITY F OLEFIN POLMB LUBRICANTS Raymond L. Heinrich, Baytown, Tex, assignor,

by mesne assignments, to Standard Oil Development Company, Elisabeth, N. 1., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application September 11, 1947,

Serial No. 173,501

s Claims. -(c|. zoo-sans) The present invention relates to a process for making lubricating oils and more particularly relates to the preparation of lubricating oils of improved stability characteristics from oiefins.

It has heretofore been proposed to prepare lubricating oils from oleflns by polymerizing alpha olefins in the presence of'a halide catalyst and subsequently reacting the olefin polymers obtained therebywith various materials to improve the stability of the polymer oil. For ex-' ample, it is known that lubricating oils prepared by polymerizing oleiins may be stabilized and otherwise improved by reacting these olefin polymers with such materials as sulfur and compounds of'sulfur or phosphorus and compounds of phosphorus. Material prepared-by such processes are ;-known to have materially better sta-' bility characteristics and to possess improved oiliness and extreme pressure characteristics. Such materials may themselves be used as lubricating oils but it-isalso known to blendsuch materials with petroleum lubricant fractions to improve theaoxidation, oilness, andextreme pressure characteristics of such fractions.

One of theobiects of this invention is to pre-' pare a lubricating oil fromalpha olefins which has improved stability to oxidation. Another object is to reducethe tendency of lubricating oils prepared byuthe polymerization of.,--alpha oiaflns to further polymerize during use. Other objects will be apparent from the following detailed description of my invention.

In accordance with my invention, alpha olestood that any of the others may be used. The

reaction-is carried out under such conditions of time, temperature, pressure, and dilution as will result in: securing aaproduct whichis of such molecular weight and physical characteristics as to make itsuitable for use as a lubricant. 'ihese conditions will, of course, vary with the olefin employed, the catalyst used to catalyze the polymerization reaction, and the particular material which is selected from. the right hand columnoi group .37 or VI. In carrying outthis devout-ion. I wer low nhywhile the reaction is in progress.

2 drous aluminum chloride although anyof the Friedel-Crafts catalysts may be used, such, for example, as boron fluoride, zinc chloride, alumi- 'num bromide, etc. when boron fluoride is employed, the temperature at which the reaction is conducted will ordinarily be lower than when aluminum chloride is used. Furthermore, various reaction pressures may be maintained. When, for example, butene-l or propane is used in combination with boron fluoride, it will be necessary to operate at pressures in excess of atmospheric but I prefer to opsrate at atmospheric pressure whenever possible. In my process, a diluent may be used to give greater control over the polymerization reaction though the use of such diluent is not necessary. when a diluent is used, I prefer to use a relatively low boiling straight chain paraffinic hydrocarbon since it is preferable to avoid-the use of branched chain parafiinic hydrocarbons as such hydrocarbons tend to react with the oleflns present under the influence of the catalyst employed thereby causing undesirable side reactions.

The reaction temperature maintained in practicing the process of my invention will be .determined by the particular alpha olefin to be polymerized, the element or compound thereof chosen, the catalyst employed and in some instances by the pressure at which the reaction is conducted. However, the reaction should ordinarily be carried out at a temperature of not lessthan' 50 F. and not in excess of about 250 F. since the desired product cannot ordinarily be secured if the reaction tmperature is maintained outside these limits. Sufficient time should be allowed for the sub stantial completion of the reaction and the time required may vary from a few minutes to several hours depending upon the reaction materials which are employ'.d and the reaction conditions maintained. I have found that ordinarily the reaction should be permitted to con tinue for at least 30 minutes and ordinarily should not be permitted to exceed 3 or 4 hours. The reaction mixture is, of course, agitated On completion of the reaction, agitation is discontinued and a sludge separates from the reaction mixture. The sludge is withdrawn and the oily liquid remaining in the reactor contains the desired lubricant. It is desirable to quench any catalyst which may be suspended or dissolved in this oily liquid and after such quench"- ingthe lubricant contained therein may be'recovered. The recovery of the desired lubricant may be accomplished by any of the well-known means such, for example, as atmospheric, vacuum or steam distillation or steam stripping. By this means, the-desired lubricant boiling within a selected boiling range may be recovered. or

course. the recovered lubricant may be subjected to additional treatment such, for example, as clay filtration, but such additional treatment is no part oi this invention and it will often be found that no additional treatment is required.

As an example or my invention, pentene-l was reacted with red phosphorus in the presence of substantially anhydrous aluminum chloride for 2 hours at 95 F. and at atmospheric pressures. The following materials were charged to the reactor in mounts indicated as parts by weight: aluminum chloride, 0.4 part; red phosphorus 1.0

was realized in the distillation operation and the overhead vapor consisted of parts or water and 1 part hydrocarbon.

The lubricating oil bottoms obtained in each of the five above-mentioned experiments were tested. In addition, a sample of each of these five lubricating oil bottoms was subjected to oxidation and the product from this oxidation was tested. The conditions under which each or these five experiments was conducted together with the physical analysis or the lubricating oil bottoms obtained and the analysis of the samples of the botgllus rg 'IjI:IIIIgIIgIII cm on 118133 .3

M Add y part, matched, parts; and normal pentane, toms subjected to oxidation are shown in the .50 parts. V tabulation below.

BunNo 1 2 8 4 5 Material Added Bed Phospho- PsSl None Pas! None.

rus. Pentene-l Pentene-l Pentene-l-.. Dodeeened. Dodeoene-l. n-Pentane n-Pentane. n-Peutane n-Pentane... n-Pentane.

AlCls C tslyst a Olefin Diluent Peg- Yield, Wt. Percent of Olefin I Tests on Polymer:

Beiore xidation' Percent Increase in Vis. 210 F. on

Oxidation.

Reaction 'lemp.. "F

Pressure $4. Atmos.

The method for conducting the oxidation is found in the 7th edition (1946) or Standard Methods for Testing Penn learn and Its Products," publ above In another example of my invention, 52 parts of pentene-l was reacted with 0.7 part of phosphorus pentasulfide and 0.7 part of aluminum chloride in the presence of 48 parts of normal pentane. This reaction was conducted for 1% hours at a temperature of 95 F. and at atmospheric pressure.

In a still further example of my invention, parts of dodecene-l was reacted with 0.9 part of phosphorus pentasulflde and 1.1 parts of aluminum chloride in the presence of 45 parts of normal pentane for 1% hours at a temperature of 100 F. and at atmospheric pressure.

Flor purpose of comparison, 51- parts of pentene-l was reacted with 0.6 part oi aluminum chloride in the presence of 49 parts of normal pentane with no additional materials added. The reaction time in this case was one hour and the temperature and pressure was 100 F. and atmospheric. respectively. Also for comparison, 53 parts of dodecene-l was reacted with 1.1 parts of aluminum chloride and 45 parts 01' normal pentane with no additional material added. This latter reaction, which was conducted at 100 F. and at atmospheric pressure, was concluded in 1% hours.

Upon expiration of the above mentioned reaction periods in each example, the reaction mixture was allowed to stand for a sulllcient time to separate the aluminum chloride sludge from the reactor hydrocarbon. The reactor hydrocarbon was then water washed in the absence of aluminum chloride sludge to destroy catalyst dissolved in the polymer. The polymer was then steam distilled until a bottoms temperature 01 400' F.

P a bed by lnstitu te oi Petroleum. Manson House, London, page 266. Test designation 0 I e "The procedure for conducting this test is identified as I. P. 14/45 and is found on page 62 ot the reference under It will be noted from the data that the lubricating oil treated with red phosphorus and a lubricating oil treated with phosphorus pentasulfide in accordance with this invention were considerably more stable to oxidation and to viscosity increase on vigorous oxidation than was the lubricating oil prepared in the conventional manner.

It is apparent from the foregoing tabulation that I have prepared a lubricant from alpha oleflns capable of withstanding oxidation and polymerization. Although specific elements and compounds of elements appearing in the right-hand columns of groups V and VI have been employed in the examples hereinbetore mentioned and speciflc reaction conditions have been employed therein, it will be understood that various changes may be made in the materials employed and in the time, temperature, pressure and reaction pe-' riod without departing from the scope of the invention. While only pentene-l and dodecene have been employed in the examples hereinbetore mentioned, it will be understood that propene, butane-l, hexene-l, heptene-l, octane-1, nonenel. decene-l, undecene-l, or tridecene-l may be employed in the process 01' my invention.

What I wish to claim is:

l. A method of producing an improved lubrieating all which includes the steps of contacting a mixture of an alpha olefin having a boiling point of less than 450 F. and a material selected from the group consisting of phosphorus and phosphorus pentasulflde with a Friedel-Craits type catalyst in the presence of a diluent Ma temperature in the range between 50 and 250 8..

in the liquid phase for a time in the range between 1 and 3 hours sufllcient for the simultaneous polymerization of the said olefin and for the reaction of the said olefin and its polymers with the said material to form a product suitable for use as a lubricating oil and recovering said product.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 in which the Friedel-Crafts type catalyst is substantially anhydrous aluminum chloride.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1 in which the material is phosphorus pentasulflde.

4. A method'in accordance with claim 1 in which the diluent employed is a low boiling. straight chain parafilnic hydrocarbon.

5. A method in accordance with claim 1 in which the material is phosphorus.

6. A method of producing an improved lubricating oil which includes the steps of contacting a mixture of alpha olefins having a boiling point of less than 450 F. and a material selected from the group consisting of phosphorus and phosphorus pentasulfide with a Friedel-Crafts type catalyst at a temperature in the range between 50 F. and 250 F. in the liquid phase for a time in 6 the range between 1 and 3 hours sumcient for the simultaneous polymerization of said olefins and for the reaction of said olefins and their polymers with the said material to form a product suitable for use as a lubricating oil and recovering said product.

RAYMOND L. HEINRICH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,082,518 Ruthrufi' June 1, 193'! 2,316,080 'Loane et a1 Apr. 6, 1948 2,360,699 McAllister et a1. Oct. 17, 1944 2,381,907 Hughes et al. Aug. 14, 1945 2,389,240 Reid Nov. 20, 1945 2,449,934 Giammaria Sept. 21, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Great Britain Sept. 18, 1936 

1. A METHOD OF PRODUCING AN IMPROVED LUBRICATING OIL WHICH INCLUDES THE STEPS OF CONTACTING A MIXTURE OF AN ALPHA OLEFIN HAVING A BOILING POINT OF LESS THAN 450* F. AND A MATERIAL SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF PHOSPHORUS AND PHOSPHORUS PENTASULFIDE WITH A FRIEDEL-CRAFTS TYPE CATALYST IN THE PRESENCE OF A DILUENT AT A TEMPERATURE IN THE RANGE BETWEEN 50* AND 250* F. IN THE LIQUID PHASE FOR A TIME IN THE RANGE BETWEEN 1 AND 3 HOURS SUFFICIENT FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS POLYMERIZATION OF THE SAID OLEFIN AND FOR THE REACTION OF THE SAID OLEFIN AND ITS POLYMERS WITH THE SAID MATERIAL TO FORM A PRODUCT SUITABLE FOR USE AS A LUBRICATING OIL AND RECOVERING SAID PRODUCT. 